


One Less Raincheck

by serafina19



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Spoilers for Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5827876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serafina19/pseuds/serafina19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel and Peggy finally get that drink, but he can't help but focus on what has changed. Happens after "A View in the Dark"</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Less Raincheck

It wasn't supposed to be this different, or this difficult, sitting next to her, trying to pretend that nothing had changed. Technically, plenty had changed in their lives, but Daniel wanted to believe that they could go back to how things were in New York.

After all, it was just a drink offer that was never claimed, a few calls that went unanswered because life goes on. Not long ago, he didn't think he would see Peggy Carter again. But time, or rather, Jack Thompson had a bad sense of humour. Daniel wanted to give him a piece of mind for doing this to Peggy, as it wasn't her fault that she was probably stealing his thunder in New York. However, it didn't surprise him that Thompson decided to deal with two problems with one stone. That was usually his method of choice.

Of course, it wasn't his, so what was Daniel's excuse for his current predicament? All this time, he had assumed that he had no chance, but now, when it was too late, he was starting to see that he was wrong. Unfortunately for him, those feelings don't just evaporate, a fact he realized when Daniel thought she was in danger. It certainly didn't help when Violet had changed her shift tonight to help a co-worker, leaving him looking across the room at Peggy's desk, wondering what if.

Peggy Carter didn't let people in often, not that he blamed her. She had been burned by enough people, including him, and Daniel hated that fact. But he couldn't backpedal, because she would go back to New York, and things would go back to normal.

However, he was committed to at least trying to make things better between them. Peggy also had enough men who owed her something, and he wasn't talking about the misogynistic nature of society.

Cap owed her a dance, he owed her a drink, and based on her expression whenever anyone talked about Dr. Wilkes, something told him that there was something else that was left unsaid or undone.

So he offered her a drink after work, hoping to be that person in New York that she could call a friend, possibly something more. Initially, she had said no, but he told her the truth, that Violet was working late and he didn't want to go home yet. Somehow, it was enough for her to change her mind.

It probably should feel wrong, sitting next to her right now, but being with Peggy always brought something positive out of Daniel. Sure, there were exceptions, but when he accused her of treason, he always hoped that he was wrong. Then again, the fact that hope was right was what hurt more than anything because he wanted her to trust him. The strange thing was, despite everything he had done, she forgave him and then she started to trust him. In fact, he was so close to that opening he was waiting for, that he couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't taken the job in California, what might have happened.

When they had arrived at the bar, they sat down on a couple of stools before he ordered for both of them, hoping that her tastes hadn't changed. She had smiled afterwards, an expression that he couldn't help but return. But even hers didn't last and silence took over for a few minutes. It wasn’t like small talk was easy between them anymore.

Once their drinks came, she broke the silence.

"You didn't have to do this.”

And she was right. He was partly doing this for selfish reasons, as he hoped that if there was nothing left to reclaim, he could move on, return to his regularly scheduled life as the chief of the California SSR office. True, _regularly scheduled life_ maybe wasn’t what he wanted, but it was the compromise that he had come to accept. That way, Peggy could continue to amaze every person she met with her skills, wit and intelligence. After everything she had gone through, she deserved to be recognized as the incredible woman she was.

 

 

**~End~**

**Author's Note:**

> Not going to lie, I wrote this over my coffee break today, so it's not as polished as I would like, but I wanted to get it up before the episode tonight.


End file.
